I've been tryin to get my rifle to shoot well and noticed there may be another problem involved. I now where glasses and have noticed w/ my Leupold 6.5-20 that if I have the bell set @ 100yds....and make a focus adjustment from the rear of the scope I just can't get it sharp enough. I can focus from the bell to get it sharp but it then seems either the target is sharp or the cross hairs are sharp...but not both. If I split the difference both images get blury when I stare at them to make my shot. I think this has been part of my accuracy problem.

What am I doing wrong and what can I do to correct this....or is this my eyes just getting old and tired??? Could this be a scope thing? I have 2 Leupolds 6.5-20 one is about 10 yrs newer than the other and have this problem with both.

Thanks
Arrccod/Bill

I'd guess you didn't go far enough to focus the reticle with the bell set for 100 yds. Just keep going and it will clear up. Then focus the image at 100 yds by going further. Once the image is sharp, check the scope for parrallax. If you need to reset the parrallax setting, you will then need to refocus using the eye piece. Mark how far off the AO is for further reference. E

arrcord, I have had several high power leupold scopes, the 6.5 to 20 varix 3 and the 24x benchrest BRD and both exhibited the same problem you are having. When the crosshairs are nice and sharp the image at the far end will be out of focus when the parallax is dialed out. To get the image focused using the objective then there is parallax error induced.

I gave up and dumped my leupolds after messing with them for several years.

I'll throw you a bone here, look at the top of line japanese glass and you'll be quite surprised.

Eye glass wearers sometimes have problems using/focusing scopes because a natural shooting position normally has you looking sort of sideways out of your glasses. In other words, you have introduced another lens into the sytem and it is not sitting parallel to the lenses in the scope.

Also, you should ALWAYS focus your scopes at dusk or on a really dark cloudy day so your pupil is at its widest and its depth of field at its lowest.

How old are you, and how long have you been wearing glasses?

Eyes get old. even young eyes.

I have two target scopes, one a 6.5 to 20 varix 3 and the other a 6 to 24 4200. I have no trouble with either scope. I focus the eyepiece first until the reticule is clear and never touch it again. I dial in the distance on the AO and fine tune the AO to clarify the image. At that time everything is in focus and both the image and reticule are clear and free from parallax.
fyj has a point on the glasses. I have had laser surgery and no longer wear glasses. However, when I used glasses I had one pair of progressive bifocals. These glasses were useless for shooting either bows or guns because the clear field of view existed only in the centre of the lens not in the corner used for aiming. Maybe have another person who doesn't wear glasses check your scopes to see if they observe the same problem as you. Good luck

Allot of people overlook the fact that our eyes (and glasses) are also lenses that have to be factored into any evaluation of optical devices we are using.

And you can also add in the part of our brain that actually interprets the nerve impulses that our eyes send to it.

This is the reason that people perceive colors differently. Our eyes can only "see" the primary colors of Red, Blue, and Green wave lengths and it is our brain that takes the red, blue, and green and blends them together to make the full spectrum of colors we see.

Thanks for the response guys but I had posted this over in the varmint form after the 1st reponse was all I recieve after a week. Sako308 responded and correctly (at least for me) that when I initially focused the reticle the Bell needed to be in the infinity setting. once I did that that seemed to solve my problem.

Again thanks
Arrccod/Bill